A Clean And Simple Hop!

Hello! Welcome to the Magnolia-licious Clean and Simple Blog
Hop!

They assigned me as stop #1 today because this was my idea....I am pretty
sure this is suppose to be punishment and not a spot of honor!
LOL!!

When it was decided that we would have a Clean and Simple Hop I think heard
groans all the way from Reno! (heehee) We even had to find a
definition of what "clean and simple" cards were! It's just
that we get so use to doing things one way that we forget to try something
different. Or go back to a style we use to have. Many of
us like to use lots of layers and embellies...but when I visit the gallery on
SCS, I often see "CAS" (clean & simple) cards that look so elegant and
lovely. And I actually view them in amazement and think:
how do they make it look so easy, yet so beautiful?! I can't wrap my
mind around that. So several months ago I started adding some
more CAS cards to my repertoire. And you know what?
Sure, I always like my layers of pretty papers...but I find it refreshing to
"simple down" and not be so fussy. The thing about Magnolia images
are that they are SO DANG ADORABLE, that they look great on any style of
card!

When I make my usual style of card I typically only get one done in a
"session". (2-3 hours of the night) I hem and haw of
what layout to use, (that's why I love sketch challenges! cuts off some of
the time!) I sort through paper and more paper deciding on a color and what
patterns to use...where to use them on the layout. Then the
embellies...I don't have the right color...What should I fill this space
with?...it looks like too much...it looks unbalanced...it doesn't look right at
all! With CAS, there is still some of this hemming &
hawing....but only about 1/2 as much. :)

The biggest problem I have with CAS is that if I make a mistake there isn't
much room for covering up. I make lots of mistakes. I
was NOT going to ever share this elephant card with you on this
blog. I could lie and say Orla (my 8 yr old) made it.
But let's face it, we all make boo boo's and not every card can be our
masterpiece. right?

I spent about 35+ minutes coloring this pretty Ellie. I was pretty
happy with it in the end. Then I stamped the sentiment and
apparently got purple ink on a finger/thumb and smudged it right under Ellie's
tail. :( WAH!

So I thought I would cut her out....but then I thought that would get away
from CAS. so I decided to sponge ink around the image....I didn't so
much like it...hated it would be a better term. But I figured: well,
maybe if I layer it...still no dice. I just don't like this
card. On a "fussy" card I would have cut Ellie out ...or when in
trouble you can always stick a few flowers or something on there to cover up the
mistake! Oh well....just goes to show you that we are human and not
every card makes it to the blog! And some that do...probably would
have been best left on the craft room floor too! LOL! It's
kind of like looking back at old photos of ourselves and wondering what the heck
were we thinking about with that haircut...or those huge glasses....or that
sweater!?! UGH!

You can get your own Elephant
and
Tilda with a Spoon at Magnolia-licious.

***Next stop on the hop is the Brilliant
Becca! The thing about Becca is that she
totally rocks ANY and EVERY style card! ***

When you finish the hop make a last stop over at the Magnolia-licious-highlites
blog. (if you didn't start there). Where you can get the deets
about making your own CAS style card and winning a prize!

Speaking of a prize...if you have are still reading this, then you deserve
one! How about this adorable Tilda holding a Candy Cane
stamp?!

Leave a comment on this post to be entered. I will announce the
winner next week!

Have an Astounding Friday!